I just bought a new Remington semi-auto in 35 Whelen with a 22"barrel to use hear in the northeast on deer ,bear and moose. I topped it with a Leupold vari-x II 2x7x32 I shot it for the first time over the weekend and its realy a sweet rifle i used factory 250psp but plan to load Hornady 250RN i expect shots not to exseed 100 yards where i hunt . Could i use the same in Alaska for moose . What bullet would you guys reccommed i try.

quote:

Originally posted by Tanoose:
I just bought a new Remington semi-auto in 35 Whelen with a 22"barrel to use hear in the northeast on deer ,bear and moose. I topped it with a Leupold vari-x II 2x7x32 I shot it for the first time over the weekend and its realy a sweet rifle i used factory 250psp but plan to load Hornady 250RN i expect shots not to exseed 100 yards where i hunt . Could i use the same in Alaska for moose . What bullet would you guys reccommed i try.

Alaska moose are much larger than moose in the lower-48, but your bullet choice should work just fine. Moose are not hard to kill, and lots are hunted with the .30-06 and 180 grainers up here.

very,very simple,

http://www.northforkbullets.com/358-250.htm

Tanoose
Moose are killed with every thing form .223 to .458 win. The native AK reguarly use the .223 to harvest all of AK big game.

So use the bullet you can put in the chest and the Moose will die. spend your time practicing and don't hung up on this what bullet is best BS.

Dr B

woodjack beat me to it...

go with the best!

I would always opt for a heavier bullet than a lighter one. Hornady vs. Nosler- Partitions hands down. Frangible(is that the word?) and lighter bullets would penetrate but hardly exit. I have seen that on a variety of bullets and calibers. I would expect a exit as that would cause some heavy bleeding IF you did not succeed in dropping your animal at the first shot, that is if it takes off after the first shot. Them 35's are a reputed killer. Good shootin!!

The object is to avoid having to fish a dead moose out of the nearest water body it ran into after being hit with a light caliber. I sold a spare .338WM to a guy that had hunted moose with a .270 for years. He said they always died eventually, but he was just getting too old to go moose fishing every time.

I use a Whelen, and my favorite bullet is a 225 grain Barnes "X". I haven't taken a moose with it, but have taken a couple of elk, a caribou, some feral hogs and white-tail deer and the performance has been excellent. JMO, but I think at what most folks consider normal 35 Whelen ranges, + or - 250 yards, the 225 "X" bullet will do the job.

If you don't want to fish for moose the make a good shot take out a shoulder and the lungs. If he can't do it with a 270 buying a harder kicking 338 won't help his shooting I think he will still be fihing.

Dr B

quote:

Originally posted by Dr B:
If you don't want to fish for moose the make a good shot take out a shoulder and the lungs. If he can't do it with a 270 buying a harder kicking 338 won't help his shooting I think he will still be fihing.

Dr B

I agree. The only moose that I saw go right down was hit in the neck with a 220 grain from a 30/06. I have shot two with .338 win mag , one with 308 win and two with my bow.

On of the bow shot moose went 40 yards and droped dead. That is the shortest any of them went that I have shot.

You can't go wrong with any bullet choice,as long as you know the drop values at various ranges and you estimate or measure the distance correctly. My concern is with the choice of a semi-auto.If you must hunt with one up here,be sure to be very familiar with cleaning including the gas port.You might want to use some dry slide product.I have decided that the semi-auto Rem. is not a good choice for me. I prefer the more positive function of their pump,or a bolt gun.I moved up here many years ago with a semi -auto Rem. 30-06.With the variable temps. and conditions here ,it was not as reliable as I wanted.Good luck.

RMiller, before my 45-70 and its one shot kills.....I had numerous 270's. I recall when the BearClaw came out in the 140grn, I was evening hunting and "calling" for moose and the big boy came out a grunting and swinging his head. He walked out to the waters edge and I had to take the shot in the shoulder or I would be moose fishing. Knocked him right down @ 70yds dead! I don't like taking them out in the lungs as Alaska has some vast country and they can take off and die in some serious parts of the world. Kneck shot if possible or in the shoulder.
By the way I made my mind up on the last .270 to make it into a .338-06, now it is more of an "all around".

Tanoose,

akpls gave you some sound advise. A big gun and a big bullet may save you a crap load of work. My favorite moose rifle was a 375 Weatherby. The whelen with a good 225-250 grain bullet should work very well. I do have some consideration about a semi auto in Alaska weather though.

Mark

Tanoose:
Northfork first, then a Partition. I wouldn't even think of using a Hornady on a moose. As was mentioned previously, ya shouldn't have to go swimmin' for your moose. Inevitably, he'll head for the nearest water as long as he's standing. Bear in Fairbanks

quote:

Originally posted by Bear in Fairbanks:
Tanoose:
Northfork first, then a Partition. I wouldn't even think of using a Hornady on a moose. As was mentioned previously, ya shouldn't have to go swimmin' for your moose. Inevitably, he'll head for the nearest water as long as he's standing. Bear in Fairbanks

sound advice, using heavy for caliber bullets.

I'd like to see what that 270gr North Fork would do in a Whelen, just as good as a 9.3X62 with the 286gr bullet i would think.

Bear in Fairbanks,I am curious why not Hornady bullets for moose. Have you had failure with these bullets. And how about the swift a-frame for large game you dont hear to much about these bullets. Thanks Tanoose

Tanoose:
Sorry for not getting back to you earlier. I haven't been watching the board very closely lately.
I'm a firm believer in using a premium bullet for big game and I'm not convinced any Hornady fits the bill. In working up a load, I generally use either Sierra or Hornady bullets in the weight I want to hunt with. Once the load is determined, I then go to a premium bullet and fine tune from there. Until a few years ago, I always used Partitions but I could never get the accuracy I wanted however, they never failed me on a game animal as long as I did my part. I decided to search for another premium bullet that provided better accuracy and finally went with the Northfork. I've yet to hear of a Northfork failing on game provided the hunter did his part. Several years ago, one of my moose hunting partners shot a bull with a 210 gr. Partition at (an estimated) 225 yds. or so. He hit the animal with the 1st shot but it appeared that the bull was going to head into deep water so he shot again. When we got to the animal to dress him out, we found that the diaphragm was totally destroyed, the lungs mush and we never found any of the heart. It turned out that the 2nd shot would not have been necessary - but! This past year, another of my partners downed a bull at about 100 yds on a river bank. That animal was put down right away with a .338 mag and a 210 Partition but even then he used 2 shots. Both well placed.
In my experience, moose act as though they haven't been hit - it takes a bit of time for them to react to being hit. You need a very well constructed bullet to penetrate into the vital areas and do its job. Your moose hunt is most likely going to be an expensive proposition for you and the bullet you use is going to be the cheapest part of the hunt. Why take a chance? Just my opinions for whatever they're worth. Bear in Fairbanks

quote:

Originally posted by Bear in Fairbanks:

I'm a firm believer in using a premium bullet for big game and I'm not convinced any Hornady fits the bill.

Your moose hunt is most likely going to be an expensive proposition for you and the bullet you use is going to be the cheapest part of the hunt. Why take a chance? Bear in Fairbanks

+1

2 pearls of wisdom from b.i.f.

use heavy for caliber bullets.

When we had our own private range we practised several times every week not just at 100 yards but at several hundred ,all of us could take long shots at game with confidence we'd hit what we aimed at,we lost the lease.Now the longest range we have is 200 meters so I'm handicapped at taking the 600 plus yard shots. Practise lots of it. I've never limited myself to 100 yd shots since I hunt in the western US long shots do occur so one better be ready for them.